Survivor's Luke Toki barely recognisable in throwback photo: ‘Glow up’

He’s become quite a familiar face on Australian TV after appearing on three reality shows and winning the hearts of viewers along the way thanks to his wild antics and cheeky sense of humour.

Yet Luke Toki left fans shocked on Tuesday when he posted a throwback snap on social media looking barely recognisable.

In the photo, the Big Brother VIP champion and ‘King of the Jungle’ wore a black t-shirt, shell necklace and long blonde dreadlocks.

“How’s this photo from back in the glory days,” the 35-year-old wrote in the caption. “Damn a lot has changed since then.”

His friend in the snap later shared the post to her Instagram Story, revealing that it was taken in New Zealand in 2002 when they were in school together.

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Luke’s followers couldn’t get enough of the throwback post, taking to the comments to praise his unique hairstyle and his transformation since then.

“Holy shit,” Big Brother VIP’s Josh Carroll wrote, followed by Survivor’s Sarah Tilleke who said, “So good!”

“Rage Against the Machine wants their lead singer back,” David Genat joked, referring to rock star Zack de la Rocha’s signature ‘do, while someone else remarked, “My mop wants its head back!”.

“Cheeky smile back then too,” a different user pointed out.

“Oh wow. That was a stage. Glad you’ve moved on,” one fan shared, with another adding, “What a glow up”.

Luke first made his reality TV debut on season two of Australian Survivor in 2017 before returning for Australian Survivor: Champions V Contenders in 2019, where he came in fourth place.

Most recently he appeared as a housemate on Big Brother VIP, where he won $100,000 for Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation for Cystic Fibrosis Clinical Research.

Earlier this year Luke launched a podcast with his friend and Australian Survivor winner David Genat titled Who Authorised This? which has been labelled “the most epic, unscripted podcast”.

Alongside the announcement in February Luke wrote: “Our weekly local news, finance, sport, reality TV, political podcast that we never know what we are really going to talk about as @davidgenat and I find our way and go on a spiritual journey every week. Guests, banter and laughs are a must.”

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